AN ACR PRIMARY MAINT INSPECTOR IS QUESTIONING THE LEGALITY OF A B757-200 THAT WAS DISPATCHED WITH THE COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER UNDERWATER LOCATOR BEACON INOP AND DEFERRED PER THE MEL.

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ON FEB/XA/98 I WAS ASSIGNED A JOB CARD YYZ FOR ACFT XYZ TO CHK THE COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER UNDERWATER LOCATOR BEACON. THE UNDERWATER LOCATOR BEACON FAILED THE 3 FT SIGNAL CRITERIA. THE JOB CARD (POS #2) NOTE STATES 'IF UNDERWATER LOCATOR BEACON FAILS TEST; INITIATE A NON ROUTINE TO REPLACE UNDERWATER LOCATOR BEACON. (THE JOB CARD DOES NOT MENTION ANY REF TO A MAINT MANUAL OR MEL.) I INITIATED THE MECH'S NON ROUTINE WRITE-UP; WENT TO THE STOCK ROOM; THERE WAS '0' STOCK THROUGHOUT THE SYS FOR REPLACEMENT. I CONFERRED WITH MY LEAD AND THE MOST EXPEDITIOUS DEFERRAL WAS MAINT CTL FOR THE MECH'S NON ROUTINE WRITE-UP. I DID TEST OF COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER AND IT FUNCTIONED NORMAL. A CHK OF THE MEL SHOWED (1) OR (0) REQUIRED ALSO NO REFERRAL TO MAINT MANUAL REQUIREMENT. I COMPLETED THE JOB CARD. ON APPROX MAR/XA/98 I RECEIVED AN INTENT TO DELIVER CARD FROM THE POST OFFICE IN MY MAIL BOX. ON MAR/XB/98 I PICKED IT UP - - THIS WAS THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO; I SIGNED FOR IT. IT WAS AN INVESTIGATION NOTICE FROM FAA PMI AT ZZZ OFFICE. SINCE IT CONTAINED NO PHONE NUMBER; I CONTACTED THE LCL FAA FOR A NUMBER FOR PMI. I RESEARCHED THE GMM AND IT STATES THAT THE JOB CARD PROC IS THE PREFERRED PROC TO FOLLOW; AND THE JOB CARD MAY TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER THE MAINT MANUAL TO FACILITATE RAPID CHANGES. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THE ACFT WAS A B757-200 AND A JOB CARD WAS FOR A SPECIFIC TASK AND TOOK PREFERENCE OVER THE MAINT MANUAL BECAUSE IT WAS UPDATED AT A GREATER FREQ THAN THE MAINT MANUAL. THE RPTR SAID THE MEL ALLOWED DEFERRAL OF THE COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER AND WAS APPROVED BY THE MAINT CTLR. THE RPTR STATES THE ACR PRIMARY MAINT INSPECTOR HAS NOT ACCEPTED THIS REASONING AND HAS GIVEN THE RPTR A 2 YEAR PROBATION PENALTY. THE RPTR STATED THAT THIS PENALTY IS UNJUSTIFIED AS THE JOB CARD WAS FOLLOWED AND THE MEL FOLLOWED TO THE LETTER.